


Nancy Drew and the Phantom Cry

by rebecca_selene



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene
Genre: Gen, Ghosts, Historical, Hogwarts First Year, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-11
Updated: 2011-11-11
Packaged: 2017-10-25 23:10:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/275883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebecca_selene/pseuds/rebecca_selene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nancy Drew gets accepted to Hogwarts. She's fascinated by the curiosities of a magical world she never knew existed, but when something starts to go bump in the night, it's beyond even Hogwarts' standard of normalcy. Nancy is determined to find whatever is making the phantom cries before it finds her!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nancy Drew and the Phantom Cry

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently, 1923 was a bad year for the Sorting Hat's song-writing ability. Just saying.  
> Written for the 2011 [](http://hogwarts_houses.livejournal.com/profile)[**hogwarts_houses**](http://hogwarts_houses.livejournal.com/) Fest for Ravenclaw House.  
>  **Beta:** [](http://rambo_cupcakes.livejournal.com/profile)[**rambo_cupcakes**](http://rambo_cupcakes.livejournal.com/)

_Have a good time at school, Nancy. Don’t forget to write…uh, owl._

Nancy remembered the parting, slightly anxious smile her father had given her just before she’d felt a tug below her belly-button and her house had disappeared. She’d just barely managed to keep her feet when she landed.

The witch from Britain’s Ministry of Magic smiled down at Nancy and said, “Welcome to Platform 9¾.”

Nancy looked around in awe at the bustling of people in strange clothes carrying strange packages. Even now, safely tucked aboard the train and on her way to the school she’d only recently learned existed, she was still twisting her head this way and that, taking in all the students and their possessions. She had to duck back into her compartment on more than one occasion to avoid being decapitated by overeager students running through the aisle. Finally, though, one boy followed her into the compartment, taking the seat across from her.

“Hello,” she said politely. “I’m Nancy Drew.”

The boy stuck out his hand, and she shook it. “Pollux Black,” he said, his chin lifted high. “It’s all so exciting, isn’t it? I’ve been waiting to go to Hogwarts for years. Of course, my parents are so proud. I’ll get into Slytherin, no doubt, and they’ll be even prouder.” Pollux bounced in his seat.

“What’s Slytherin?” Nancy asked, barely following the boy’s ramblings.

Pollux stared at her wide-eyed. “You don’t know what Slytherin is?” he asked. His eyes narrowed. “You’re a Muggle, aren’t you? With that accent?”

Before Nancy could answer, a girl tumbled into the compartment but somehow managed to land in the seat next to Pollux. Her face was flushed, and her brown hair looked windswept.

“Hello, all,” she said brightly, looking first at Pollux then at Nancy. “Looks like we’re heading off now.” She nodded out the window, where Nancy could see that, indeed, the train had begun to move. “First years?”

Nancy nodded while Pollux sized up the newcomer. “And are _you_ a Mudblood too?” he asked with a sneer.

The smile disappeared from the girl’s lips as quickly as Nancy had seen the luggage disappear earlier. “No, not that it’s any of your business,” she replied. Nancy marveled at the distinct frost that had replaced the new girl’s cheery countenance.

“Well, that’s a relief,” Pollux said, turning his sneer back to Nancy. “ _She_ is, though. Doesn’t even know what Slytherin is.”

Feeling that she’d been out of the conversation long enough, Nancy turned to the new girl, hoping to make a good impression for herself, instead of relying on Pollux to destroy what little chance she had of making new friends. “I’m Nancy Drew,” she said, holding out her hand.

The girl’s smile returned. “Joscelind Wadcock.” They shook hands.

“That’s a very pretty name. Jos-cel-ind. Joscelind,” Nancy said, testing the name out on her lips.

“Thank you. Are you really Muggle born?” Joscelind asked, pointedly ignoring Pollux’ snort of derision.

Nancy nodded, taking Joscelind’s cue and not responding to Pollux’s noises. “A Muggle is a non-wizard, right?” When Joscelind nodded, Nancy continued, “Then yes, I am Muggle born. I didn’t know about Hogwarts or witches or magic until my father and I came to England.”

Now Pollux groaned. “I picked the wrong compartment. See you later, Mudblood.” He stood up and left, taking care not to let his robes brush against Nancy’s legs.

When he’d gone, Joscelind asked, “Who was that?”

“He said his name is Pollux Black.” At the other girl’s darkened expression, Nancy asked, “Do you know him?”

“I’ve heard of their family,” Joscelind admitted. “They’re very strange. I think it’s his grandfather that’s Headmaster of Hogwarts. Phineas Nigellus Black. There’s another Black student in school too, Regulus. He’s a seventh year in Slytherin.”

“What is Slytherin?” Nancy asked, eager for more information about the school where she’d be spending so much of her time.

“It’s one of the four Hogwarts Houses. You’ll be sorted into the right one for you when we arrive. I’m a second year Hufflepuff,” she finished proudly.

“How are we sorted?” Nancy asked.

“You put on a hat, and it tells you what’s right for you,” Joscelind stated, as if hats often spoke judgments of character.

“A hat?” Nancy asked skeptically.

“You’ll see when we get there,” Joscelind assured her.

“If Slytherin and Hufflepuff are two houses, what are the other two?” Nancy inquired.

“Ravenclaw and Gryffindor,” Joscelind answered. “Ravenclaw is for really smart people. Gryffindor is for really brave ones, Hufflepuff is for the best ones, of course, and Slytherin is for really sneaky people.”

“Oh.” Nancy sat back in her seat and absorbed the information Joscelind had given her. “I hope I get into Hufflepuff with you, or Ravenclaw,” she said finally.

“Me too.” Joscelind smiled at her and continued to regale her with information and tales about Hogwarts, magic, and the Wizarding world until they heard the announcement to prepare for disembarkment. Joscelind had to help Nancy put on her robes before she went back to retrieve her belongings from the compartment she originally chose. It wasn’t until the train had nearly slowed to a stop that Pollux came back to pick up his belongings without a word to Nancy, but she was too anxious about the arrival to care about his lack of attention.

Once they’d got off the train, a tall, stern-looking man beckoned the first years to follow him. Nancy was looking at all the new faces, which looked as apprehensive yet excited as she felt, so she nearly missed the sudden appearance of the edge of a lake and many small rowboats waiting silently for passengers. A low murmur ran through the students.

“Is this how we have to get to the school?” one boy asked the man leading them.

“Aye. Now get in.” The man jerked his head, and, after a moment’s pause, students started to obey.

“But what about the other students?” the boy continued. “How do they get to the school?”

“They’ve got a way, but you keep asking questions, you won’t. I got a schedule to meet, boy, so get on in.” The man’s glare invited no further conversation.

By this time, the crowd had propelled Nancy forward, and she’d taken a seat in one of the rowboats. She reminded herself to ask Joscelind how other years got to the school, if not by boat. A couple other first years joined her, followed by none other than the inquisitive boy who’d dared to ask their sallow-faced guide questions.

Nancy smiled at them all. “How do you do? I’m Nancy Drew,” she introduced, sticking out her right hand first to the boy, who smiled broadly.

“Derwent Shimpling. You’ve got a funny accent,” he said, but Nancy sensed no unkindness in his tone.

“I’m not from Britain,” she replied, turning to the other two occupants so that they wouldn’t feel ignored. They introduced themselves as Arnold Whitley and Cynthia Nolan.

“Where are you from, then?” Cynthia asked.

“The United States.” The three students stared at her incredulously. “Is…is it not common for children from other countries to attend Hogwarts?” Nancy asked slowly, dread forming in her belly.

“Er, yeah,” Arnold answered. “Least, I haven’t heard of anyone who has.”

“Oh,” Nancy said, trying to figure out why she seemed to be the first student from abroad. “Well, my father was in London for business, and he took me along. A strange letter came for me while we were here, and then a woman in strange clothing explained about Hogwarts and magic.”

“Ah, well, that explains it,” Derwent said, sitting back and relaxing as if the matter had been completely resolved. “All the letters go out at a specific time, regardless of where you are.”

“However they gather the names of students who should be at Hogwarts,” Cynthia added, “you must have shown up on the list.”

Nancy’s face scrunched up as she thought. “I suppose that, since I was in Britain when they gathered names, I got a letter from Hogwarts instead of another school closer to home.” She paused, then asked, “There are other schools, aren’t there? For magic?”

“Of course,” Arnold answered. “Magic doesn’t only exist in Britain.”

“Of course,” Nancy repeated, feeling silly for having asked such an obvious question.

“But you said that the letter and the woman’s clothes were strange,” Cynthia said slowly, as if just remembering those details. “And you said that she explained magic to you. If you didn’t know about it before-”

“You’re Muggle-born, aren’t you?” Arnold asked, interrupting Cynthia.

Nancy was beginning to tire of the shame she felt over her birth, over which she had no control. “Yes, I am,” she replied, lifting her head proudly.

Cynthia just shrugged and looked out over the lake, while Arnold continued to stare at her. Derwent just smiled. “There’s a lot more strange to get used to, Nancy Drew.” As if to prove his words, the rowboats all suddenly cast off from shore simultaneously with no apparent rower in sight, distracting the students from talk of Muggle-borns and foreign countries. Nancy held her breath as the boats turned a corner and she got her first look at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She gasped and heard many from other boats do the same. Derwent was right; the strangeness would not end any time soon, but Nancy was glad for it.

Once they’d reached the shore, the sallow-faced man led them through the biggest doors Nancy had ever seen and into a cavernous hall. As they first years, directed by the man, organized themselves alphabetically according to last name, she heard loud chatter through the doorway to her right. It stopped as soon as the man opened the doors into a large dining area, and Nancy heard someone behind her whisper “The Great Hall.”

A dark-haired, imperious looking man at the center of what Nancy could only assume was the teacher’s table stood up to welcome the first years. Nancy wondered if he was the Headmaster Black Joscelind had spoken of earlier. “And so begins another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You will now be sorted into the houses most suitable for you. I hope you do not disappoint.” Perhaps Nancy was only imagining things, but it seemed that at the last part the man had looked directly at Pollux a few spaces ahead of her, who stood up straighter under his grandfather’s gaze.

There was a pause, as if people were waiting for something. Then a hat perched on a stool that Nancy had not noticed before started to sing.

 __

I’ll sing a tune  
About four once fair  
Who each gave a boon  
To those who dare.

 _Brave Gryffindor,  
Whose lion was strong  
And with its roar  
Produced a battle song._

 _Sly Slytherin,  
Whose snake was coiled  
To gain a win  
For those who foiled._

 _Wise Ravenclaw,  
Whose eagle soared  
And over all who saw  
Intelligence poured._

 _Loyal Hufflepuff,  
Whose badger said  
That friendship was enough  
To a well-organized head._

 _So try me on,  
Let me tell you your symbol,  
Or else be gone  
If your mind is a thimble._

At the hat’s finish, the names started to be called. With each person, Nancy grew more and more anxious. The hat, Nancy noticed once she’d gotten over the shock of a talking accessory, didn’t seem to take a set amount of time to decide, sometimes shouting out a house immediately, other times taking a minute or more. Pollux Black didn’t take very long to be sorted into Slytherin, and shortly it was Nancy’s turn.

She refused to show any nervousness, despite the wobbly feeling in her knees. She felt the eyes of every person in the Great Hall watching her and tried to remind herself that she was just another student to be sorted. When the hat was on, Nancy waited.

 _Hmmm._ She was startled to hear a voice in her head. _Inquisitive, inquisitive. A fighter’s spirit, a loyal mind, ambitious. I sense the eagle in you. Better be RAVENCLAW._

Nancy smiled as she walked to the table where another Ravenclaw had headed to after her sorting. She glanced at Joscelind over at the Hufflepuff table, who smiled reassuringly at Nancy.

The Sorting continued while Nancy willed her heartbeat to slow. Cynthia Nolan also joined the Ravenclaw table, while Derwent Shimpling joined Hufflepuff and Arnold Whitley joined Slytherin.

After the Sorting, Headmaster Black stood up once more and nodded approvingly. “Congratulations to all. Class schedules will be handed out at breakfast tomorrow. Curfew is at nine o’clock. For now, feast.”

Nancy had barely any time to reflect on how the Headmaster was a man of few words before the largest array of food she’d ever seen suddenly appeared on the table. If the wide-eyes stares of some were any indication, in comparison to the ones who barely blinked, they came from Muggle families as well. Suddenly, Nancy realized just how hungry she was and began to fill her plate.

After dinner, a jovial elderly woman who introduced herself as Professor Merrythought, Head of Ravenclaw, led the Ravenclaws up a tower to their common room. When the door began to talk, Nancy was pleased to note that she was less surprised than when the hat had begun to talk. She was quickly getting used to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

“What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs at night?” the door asked.

“What is the answer to this riddle?” Professor Merrythought asked. For a long moment, no one answered.

“Er. A person?” said Cynthia beside Nancy.

The door opened, and Professor Merrythought beamed at Cynthia. “Excellent.” To the rest of the students, she said, “In order to get into your common room, you have to answer a question or riddle to show that your mind is nimble enough for the Ravenclaw House. This way, please.”

Professor Merrythought directed the girls and boys to their respective dormitories. Nancy followed Cynthia into their appointed room and found five beds with blue privacy curtains, their luggage already delivered in front of the beds. Nancy had never had cause to wish for better accommodations at home, but the extravagance of the decorations and the softness of the mattress and blankets certainly appealed to her. “It seems so comfortable here,” Nancy said as the other first-year girls trickled in.

“I should hope so. We’re spending the whole school year here,” Cynthia replied, the smile on her face as she tested her own mattress belying the harshness in her voice.

“Still. It’s very nice.” Nancy collapsed into her bed, suddenly feeling exhausted from all the new things she’d seen that day and knowing that the learning had only just begun.

***

Nancy thought that she’d sleep through the night with no interruptions, but she was wrong. She didn’t know what time she woke, only that it was dark and quiet. At least, she thought it was quiet, until a blood-curdling scream pierced the night.

Nancy jerked up straight in bed, and she heard a gasp from the bed next to her. She dared not call out to Cynthia, she was so frightened. She barely breathed, waiting with adrenaline pumping for another scream, but it didn’t come.

It wasn’t until the silence had reigned long enough for her heart to stop racing that she tentatively called out, “Cynthia? Did you hear that too?”

“Yeah,” she heard Cynthia whisper. “What was it?”

Nancy shook her head, then realized that Cynthia couldn’t see her with their curtains drawn. “I don’t know.” She laid her head back down and tried to fall asleep again, knowing instinctively that screams in the middle of the night weren’t normal, even for a school of magic. She would have written off the noise as a bad dream, had Cynthia not also heard it. Her mind turned around the new information as sleep finally overtook her.

***

As promised, class schedules were handed out the next morning at breakfast. Nancy marveled at the subjects – Potions, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts – and was more than eager to get started. She barely noticed what she ate for breakfast aside from the pumpkin juice, for which she’d already grown a fondness.

Her first class was Herbology with Slytherins. After dazzling the students with all kinds of dangerous and colorful flora, Professor Beery handed out pruning shears and set the students to harvesting Puffapods with a warning not to drop the pods. Nancy, Cynthia, Pollux Black, and another Slytherin gathered around the same table, and, getting to work, Nancy and Cynthia discussed the excitement of the previous night.

“Maybe it was you who screamed,” Pollux suggested, interrupting them, “and you just don’t realize it.”

Cynthia seemed to consider the possibility, but Nancy shook her head. “Then why didn’t the other girls wake up as well? Not even very heavy sleepers would be able to ignore screams from the same room. And it didn’t seem quite so loud as to come from me, I don’t think.” She looked to Cynthia for confirmation, and the girl nodded in agreement.

Pollux sneered. “You Muggles and your silly imaginations. You’re probably just trying to get attention.”

“I’m not a Muggle,” Cynthia pointed out. Pollux just sneered some more.

“Just ignore him, Cynthia,” Nancy said. “It’s not worth it.” The girls went back to their bubotubers, but both had to stifle their laughter after Cynthia’s “accidentally” dropped a Puffapod at Pollux’s feet, causing his shoes to erupt in bright pink flowers and Professor Beery to scold the boy for his carelessness.

Later that day, after a fascinating lesson shared with Hufflepuffs on the magical properties of Transfiguration, Nancy walked to the Great Hall with Derwent Shimpling for lunch. When he mentioned the comfortable accommodations and how he hadn’t had such a good night’s sleep in ages, Nancy related the only drawback to her own good night.

“Maybe someone in another room just had a bad dream. It probably won’t happen again,” Derwent said, clearly dismissing the event in favor of the delicious smells emanating from the Great Hall.

“Maybe,” Nancy said doubtfully to his retreating back. She didn’t want to admit it, but she kind of hoped that the scream wouldn’t disappear, because then she would never know where it came from.

***

Nancy wasn’t disappointed. Pale moonlight barely lit the room as Nancy woke in the middle of the night, the echoes of the scream resounding in her ears. She’d kept her curtains open tonight, just in case, and she quickly leaped out of bed. She was sure the scream had originated from the floor above hers, but, before she could run out and up the stairs, a hand grabbed her wrist tightly.

Nancy yelped and drew back, but the hand didn’t release her. Though terror pounded through her veins, she followed the line of the hand and arm to see who – or what – owned it. She breathed a sigh of relief to see that it was only Cynthia, the other girl’s wide eyes staring back at her.

“Sorry,” Cynthia whispered. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“It’s all right,” Nancy replied, trying to step closer to the door. “It sounded like it was close by. I just have to go-”

“No!” Cynthia said hurriedly. “Please, stay with me?”

“What’s going on?” another girl, Hazel, asked drowsily.

“Did you hear that scream?” Nancy asked.

“All I heard was you,” Hazel muttered. “Now go to sleep already!”

Nancy hesitated, looking longingly at the door. The cry didn’t come again, and if Hazel’s grumbling didn’t convince her to let the matter go for the night, Cynthia’s insistent tugging at her wrist certainly did. “Very well,” Nancy agreed, resigned. Cynthia scooted over to give Nancy room, and Nancy crawled in, sure she would get no more sleep that night.

***

Aside from History of Magic, which Nancy had given a much longer time than most other students before declaring it boring, Nancy’s classes continued to excite her. She found that she was especially partial to Charms, levitating Pollux Black’s wand right out of his hand on only the second day of class. With the cease of the mysterious scream after that second night, the magic of the school distracted Nancy from determining the sound’s cause.

She wrote to her father every weekend, telling him everything about who she’d met and what she’d learned that week. His replies were always cheery, praising her growing abilities and counting down the days until the Christmas holiday, when Nancy would take a ship – er, Portkey – back to the United States. Nancy spent the majority of one breakfast explaining the “magic” of flying machines to the wizards and witches from all houses who stuck around, making her almost late for her Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

She was running down the almost deserted hallways when she heard a commotion down a corridor she had never entered. Retracing her steps and peering around the corner, she saw the ghost of the Grey Lady quickly making her way in the opposite direction. The Bloody Baron followed closely at her heels, shouting loudly at her to listen to him. The Grey Lady continued on as if he wasn’t there at all.

Joscelind had pointed out the Hogwarts ghosts to Nancy in her first week at Hogwarts, but the only one Nancy had seen interact with anyone at all was Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost. The scene she’d just witnessed disturbed her greatly, and it was only after the two figures disappeared around a corner that Nancy remembered she had a class to go to.

***

That night, Nancy dreamed about going to the zoo. Instead of the leisurely stroll around the cages with an ice cream cone like she’d had with her father, however, the visit in her dream turned into a catastrophe. Animals leaped from their dens and attacked each other, claws and teeth flashing around Nancy as she panicked. She tried to catch a glimpse of the sky, praying to see the birds flying away from the destruction, praying for a rescue, but none came. The clouds turned red with blood and Nancy screamed, waking herself up with a jolt.

She listened to the room around her over the sound of the blood rushing in her ears. The other girls were shifting in their bed restlessly.

“What was that?” Hazel asked.

“I don’t know. Nancy? Was that you?” Cynthia said.

“I…I don’t know. What did you hear?” Nancy asked.

“A scream. Just like the one we heard during the first week,” Cynthia replied.

“Only I heard it this time, too,” Hazel added. The other two girls murmured their agreement.

Nancy felt her cheeks flush. “I’m so sorry. I just had a bad dream. Go back to sleep.”

Cynthia giggled nervously while Hazel sighed. They all settled back down in their blankets, but Nancy remained wide-eyed long after the other girls’ breathing even out in sleep. So when, over an hour later, Nancy heard a scream echo through the ceiling, she knew it didn’t come from her.

***

“Maybe we should tell someone,” Cynthia whispered during History of Magic the next day. There was always a small murmur during the classes at the beginning of the week, while classes at the end of the week usually inspired drowsiness and napping.

“Who, though?” Nancy whispered back. She was glad that Cynthia was a light sleeper like her, but the two of them seemed to be the only Ravenclaws who heard the screams. “We can’t even convince our roommates to believe us.”

“Professor Merrythought will know what to do,” Cynthia said confidently. “She’s the Head of Ravenclaw _and_ Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. We should tell her.”

“All right.” Nancy hoped that Cynthia was right. She only hoped that Merrythought would believe them.

After Defense Against the Dark Arts, Nancy and Cynthia stayed behind and approached the front desk. The lines in Merrythought’s face were harsh, but her eyes were soft as they watched her students approach. “Is something wrong, dears?” she asked.

“Professor,” Nancy began after sharing a nervous glance with her friend, “I…we…keep hearing something in Ravenclaw Tower.”

“What kind of something?” Merrythought asked, folding her hands on top of her desk.

“I don’t know,” Nancy admitted. “But we heard it the first week here, and then again last night.”

“It sounds like a scream,” Cynthia added.

Merrythought’s eyebrows scrunched together in contemplation. “Who else has heard this scream?” she asked.

“Just us,” Nancy answered with another glance at Cynthia. “We’re light sleepers,” she explained.

“Well then. If it will make you feel better, I can look around the Tower to see if I find anything unusual. Thank you for informing me, ladies.” Merrythought dismissed them with a nod, and they hurried off to dinner.

Nancy spent the entire evening and night wondering if Merrythought had begun her search and if she’d found anything yet. The night was quiet for so long that Nancy eventually fell asleep, waking only after the sun had risen and it was time for breakfast. A silent look shared with Cynthia confirmed it: there was no scream last night.

Grabbing a couple pieces of toast and wrapping them in a napkin, Nancy hurried from the Great Hall to find Merrythought before classes began. She spotted the professor exiting the Staff Lounge and increased her pace.

“Professor!” Nancy clutched her side as she came to a stop, Merrythought waiting patiently for her. “Professor, have you had a chance to search Ravenclaw Tower yet?”

“Indeed, Miss Drew,” Merrythought said. Nancy’s hopes rose but were dashed in the next instant. “But I’m afraid I found nothing at all unusual. This appears to be a case of large spaces influencing large imaginations. Do try to separate fact from fiction, won’t you?”

Nancy sensed no reprimand from Merrythought, merely advice and perhaps a bit of sympathy, but still she felt like a deflated balloon. “Thank you, Professor, I will” she said and walked slowly back towards the Great Hall, where she met Derwent heading towards the front doors.

“Hullo, Nancy,” he said, looking cheerful. Nancy dejectedly pointed out a bit of strawberry jam on the Hufflepuff’s chin, which Derwent wiped with his sleeve. “What’s the matter?”

“Oh, nothing,” Nancy answered as they made their way out of the castle towards Greenhouse 1 for Herbology. “Professor Merrythought didn’t find anything in Ravenclaw Tower.”

“Nothing at all? Surely there must be _something_ up there. Dust, at the very least,” Derwent said. Nancy almost groaned at the lame joke, but somehow she did feel a little better.

“I saw something strange the other day,” she told him. “The Bloody Baron and the Grey Lady were arguing. Or, rather, The Bloody Baron was arguing, and the Grey Lady was ignoring him.”

“So?” Derwent asked.

“It was that night that the scream started again,” Nancy said. “Do you think they could be related somehow?” Derwent shrugged, and they walked in silence for a few minutes.

“Can ghosts touch each other?” Nancy wondered aloud. Derwent snorted, and Nancy glared at him. “Why are you laughing? They exist on the same plane as each other, if not the same plane as us or the dead!”

“Well, yes, but I highly doubt they can touch each other. I mean, what a question!” He giggled.

Nancy fumed and stopped walking just outside of Greenhouse 1. “It’s a question worth asking, especially if the answer means that the poor Grey Lady is screaming in Ravenclaw Tower because someone’s hurting her!”

Derwent’s expression fell as he realized the magnitude of the situation. Immediately, Nancy felt bad for yelling at him. “I’m sorry, Derwent,” she said in a softer voice. “I just want to figure out what’s going on.”

“It’s all right. I know,” he replied seriously. He thought for a moment. “Have you told anyone else?”

Nancy shook her head. “Just Professor Merrythought, and she has no reason to believe me.”

“Believe you about what, Drew?” a new voice asked. Nancy turned to see Pollux striding towards her. “Getting in trouble, are you? My grandfather wouldn’t like that at all.”

“I don’t get in trouble,” Nancy replied with as much haughtiness as she could muster. Pollux gave her a look that said he clearly didn’t believe her and marched into the Greenhouse.

Derwent rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry about him, Nancy. He acts like he wants to get you in trouble, but secretly he’d do anything to be as smart as you.”

Nancy smiled and was thankful for having shared that boat the first day with Derwent. “Thank you.”

Derwent shrugged again. “I’ve got to get to class. See you later, Nancy.”

“Bye.” Nancy watched her friend disappear into the castle and then entered the Greenhouse herself.

***

Nancy dreamed again that night. This time, she dreamed of Pollux Black mocking her, calling her Mudblood. Then her arms grew feathers and she was about to fly away when something dragged her down. She looked to find that Pollux’s legs had turned into a large, scaly tail, which wrapped itself around her and squeezed her wings to her sides, trapping her. She felt the delicate bones under her feathers snap as Pollux’s eyes glowed red and he laughed cruelly.

She forced herself awake, heart pounding, and flexed the muscles in her arms to ensure that they were whole. Judging by the silence in the dormitory, she hadn’t screamed this time, but she still felt the sound lodged in her throat. It took several restless hours for her to decide that she wouldn’t be falling asleep again, so she tiptoed quietly out of bed to the Common Room to complete some assignments.

When Cynthia finally came down the staircase in the morning, she gawked at Nancy’s disheveled form. “You look terrible,” she said bluntly.

Nancy smiled weakly. “I couldn’t sleep,” she replied. Her throat felt parched.

“I can tell. You have dark circles under your eyes,” Cynthia said, helping Nancy gather up her parchments and ink. “Get dressed and let’s go down to breakfast. Pumpkin juice always perks you up.” Nancy nodded and went back upstairs to do just as her friend suggested.

At breakfast, Nancy did indeed feel more awake after a cold glass of juice. She was startled, however, when Derwent dropped his bag loudly on the floor and sat in the empty seat across from her. He piled food onto a plate and began to eat while the Ravenclaws around him stared.

“Um, Derwent?” Nancy said. “The Hufflepuff table is over there.”

“I know,” Derwent said with a mouthful of food. The girls next to him scooted away from the flying crumbs. “But I have a plan for you.”

Nancy exchanged a bewildered look with Cynthia. “What kind of plan?” her friend asked.

They waited impatiently for Derwent to swallow and take a large gulp of pumpkin juice to wash it all down. “Why, a plan to figure out the source of the scream, of course.”

Nancy’s eyes glittered in excitement. “You thought of a plan?”

Derwent rolled his eyes and looked behind him dramatically. “Do you see anyone else talking to you? Of course _I_ thought of a plan! Now come closer so no one can hear.”

Nancy and Cynthia leaned in over the table, breakfast forgotten, as Derwent relayed his idea to them. By the time he’d finished, Cynthia was grinning, and Nancy was practically bouncing in her seat.

“Of course!” Nancy cried. “Why didn’t I think of it before? Oh, Derwent, it just has to work.”

“‘Course it’ll work,” he said, spearing another sausage triumphantly. “I thought of it.”

***

Nancy and Cynthia waited on eggshells to hear the scream again. The plan wouldn’t work until it happened, and the girls took turns sleeping in the Common Room.

It wasn’t until the next Friday night, three days after Derwent had revealed his plan, that Nancy again heard the mysterious cry. She and Cynthia happened to both be in the Common Room, since it was a weekend and they could stay up later, chatting together.

They both leaped to their feet, and Nancy immediately cried out, “ _Accio Screamer!_ ”

A tremendous crash resounded from high up in the tower. Nancy gripped her wand in her sweaty palm and saw Cynthia do the same. They stood rooted to the spot as the crashing sounds grew louder and louder until, finally, a large, shining object barreled out of the staircase. Nancy and Cynthia screamed and leaped out of the way.

“ _Petrificus Totalus!_ Nancy shouted, aiming the spell at the blurred tornado of metal and wind. Mercifully, the object stopped just before it crashed into the wall, and Nancy gasped at what she saw.

It was a large, domed cage, very much like a birdcage, but the largest Nancy had ever seen and holding a bird the likes of which Nancy had never seen.

The bird, clearly an eagle, was squawking loudly and flapping its wings uselessly against the cage. It was also bright silver. Nancy could see the bars of the cage and the wall through its feathers.

“It’s a ghost,” Cynthia said in shock. Nancy could only nod in agreement.

By then, other Ravenclaws had descended into the Common Room, wondering about the commotion. They looked on the trapped bird in awe, some in amusement, others in horror.

“Why doesn’t it just fly through?” Nancy wondered quietly, barely audible over the bird’s cries, which, Nancy recognized, were clearly the cries she’d heard at night, now unfiltered by layers of wood and stone.

Suddenly the door to the Common Room opened, and Merrythought came through, wand raised. “What on earth is going on here?” she asked, taking in the students in their bedclothes and the very real, but ghostly symbol of Ravenclaw house. Her eyes sought Nancy’s across the room.

Nancy walked over to her professor, Cynthia following closely behind her. “This is what I heard those nights, Professor,” she said. “I just didn’t know what it was until now.”

Merrythought pondered Nancy’s explanation for a moment before, with a wave of her wand, making the bars of the cage disappear. The eagle instantly quieted and stretched its wings, forcing the students nearest to it to step out of reach.

Another wave of her wand sent a bright light through the castle wall. “Well, Miss Drew,” Merrythought said, “the Grey Lady will certainly like to know that her pet has been reclaimed.”

“Her pet?” Nancy echoed, dumbfounded. There was no way that such a majestic creature was anyone’s pet. And yet, when the Grey Lady floated through the wall, the eagle squawked happily and flew over to her.

“Elric,” the Grey Lady cried. The eagle perched on her arm, looking so comfortable there that Nancy could no longer think of one ghost without picturing the other as well. “Where have you been?”

“I believe Miss Drew here can explain,” Merrythought said, and all eyes turned to Nancy.

Still disbelieving that she’d solved the mystery, Nancy related the entire tale, starting with the first night in the dormitory and ending with the Summoning spell. The Grey Lady continued to stroke Elric’s feathers throughout the entire retelling.

When Nancy finished, Merrythought clasped her hands together. “Wonderful, wonderful. A happy reunion. Now, students, that’s enough excitement for one night. Off to bed.” She made shooing motions with her hands, and students trickled back to their rooms. Cynthia flashed Nancy a triumphant smile before heading up the stairs.

Nancy was about to follow when Merrythought’s voice stopped her. “Miss Drew, you should know that Summoning spells don’t work on people, living or dead,” Merrythought informed Nancy. “You are lucky your mystery object locked itself in something tangible, although, I must admit, the idea was good in theory.”

“It was Derwent Shimpling’s idea, actually,” Nancy admitted, proud of her friend’s successful idea. She’d have quite a story to relate to him in the morning.

Merrythought smiled. “Well, it seems he’s proven himself a bit of a Ravenclaw, hasn’t he?” She shuffled away before Nancy could reply, and then it was only her, the Grey Lady, and the Grey Lady’s eagle in the Common Room. Nancy wrung her hands together, Merrythought’s last words and the image of the Ravenclaw ghost with the Ravenclaw animal turning in her mind. Her arms itched.

“Thank you for finding him,” the Grey Lady spoke, distracting Nancy from her thoughts. “Sometimes he thinks he’s still alive and that objects are solid for him.”

Nancy nodded. “You’re welcome. I’m only glad I could solve the mystery, even if it wasn’t what I expected.”

“What did you expect?” the Grey Lady asked.

Nancy hesitated. “Well, I’m glad it didn’t turn out this way, but…the Bloody Baron…I saw him trying to talk to you one day and I thought he may have hurt…” Nancy trailed off as the Grey Lady’s expression turned sour.

“The Bloody Baron is always trying to talk to me. But I don’t have to worry about him anymore, and neither should you; his time to hurt me passed with the soul from his body,” the Grey Lady said in a tone that allowed no further discussion of that topic.

Despite the peculiarity of the Grey Lady’s words, Nancy couldn’t help but feel relieved that the mystery was solved and that no one was hurt, save for the dead animal who’d lost its master temporarily. “May I ask you something?” Nancy blurted as the Grey Lady turned to leave.

“You already have, but you may ask me something else,” the ghost responded.

Nancy hesitated, unsure if she could be happy with the answer she sought. “The Sorting Hat…when it was on my head, it said that the eagle was strong with me, but whenever I dream, it’s always about any other animal except the eagle. What does that mean? Am I not a true Ravenclaw?” Nancy held her breath.

The Grey Lady hovered over Nancy, the ghostly remains of her mother’s pet perched safely on her arm. “It’s not the symbols that make the Ravenclaw,” she said. She bent down to eye level with Nancy and, with her free hand, gently tapped the first year’s temple. Nancy felt the icy fingers pass through the first layers of her skin and shivered. “It’s the power _here_ that makes the Ravenclaw. Never forget that.” And then the Grey Lady smiled.

***

 _Dear Dad,_

 _I know I said I wasn’t sleeping well some nights, but that’s over now. My friends and I discovered that the things I’d been hearing came from a ghost’s lost pet, of all things. They’ve returned to each other and are happy now. And the nightmares have stopped._

 _Now, hopefully, all I’ll have to worry about is writing my essays. Although, there is this staircase that doesn’t seem to lead anywhere…_

 _Love,  
Nancy_


End file.
